Newport Aquarium Homeschool Day

We were very lucky to have class at the Newport Aquarium today. This week is Homeschool Days! Homeschoolers get in for half the cost and they have special classes and educational tours just for homeschoolers. It was amazing! Needless to say, they absolutely loved it and SO DID I!

We got a backstage tour of all the tanks where we learned how the filters clean everything, what types of tanks they have and all of the different fish in each tank (including their names) and how they rescue fish and quarantine them before they acclimate them in with the rest of the fish there etc. They were able to see the kitchen where they prepare all of the meals for all of the fish and the other animals that live there. They also got to see the friendly little penguins and boy were they cute! They ran right up to the window when they saw the girls coming! ADORABLE! The staff was amazing making it a very educational trip for us and it is something we will make a tradition for years to come.

Enjoy the pics! I am off to sleep, for tomorrow we have a 1.5 mile hike with a guide to the milkweed fields in Rowe Woods to catch and tag Monarchs and search for caterpillars. We have many  lessons in Botany and Entomology tomorrow! We cannot wait for this adventure!

Ainsley made a wish with a penny she had in her pocket. Her wish was that everyone's asthma would go away:( I wish for that too!

BONUS:They even got to see a barge!

Exploring Vascular vs. Nonvascular Plants

A fun project putting all of our History timeline cards in order starting with 2000BC all the way to now:)

Ainsley brushing up on her Math timed tests

Notebook pages we created for History

Discussion Board 

Today we learned the difference between vascular and nonvascular plants in Botany and they were asked to explore out in the yard and find leaves that were very veiny looking. We learned that the large vein running down the center of the leaf is called the midrib and is responsible for carrying all of the sugar, water and chemicals to the rest of the veins in the leaf. This leaf is Emma's from a Hydrangea plant. It was an excellent leaf for this discovery.

We then learned about nonvascular plants and how they get their water from absorbing. An example they used was moss and wouldn't you know, we have a ton in the back yard so the girls went on a hunt. They each brought a piece back in and looked at it through the magnifying glass to see there were no veins. It was indeed very different from a vascular plant.

There are a lot of big words in the Botany book. Some are very hard to not only pronounce but to remember so I know it can be a stretch for the twins but they are retaining it very well with the methods I am using. Each day I write the words that are new to them on the white board and have them make a vocab card along with the definition. By the end of the week they have to study those and then we test on it. So far so good. While I do not expect the twins to retain everything long term, it is still good for them to be practicing this method of memorizing for future things. My oldest on the other hand, she has not missed a single thing. On every test, if I ask to list one of 7, she lists ALL 7. AMAZING!

History is NO Mystery Here

LOVE LOVE LOVE The Story of the World! The kids are really getting into this book. The way the books read is amazing. You feel so involved and everything just makes sense. We could not have chosen a better way to go here for History. Today was a busy day in History. While my oldest read Chapter 1, Ancient Times to the twins, I was busy in the classroom searching for, printing and then laminating all of the individual pieces to our timeline for the year including dates and timeline cards so that we can all chart each happening together all the way from Prehistoric times to now. I got the board up on the wall using two long sheets of paper and then using Stikkiwax I adhered each piece. Now they will be able to actually see pictures of these events as we post them to enhance their retention. They are so excited about this they could do History all day. I love it when they get excited about something!

Of course they had to get out and see some nature today. They are loving the butterflies next door. They visit them daily and are becoming quite the catchers. They are very excited about their Monarch learning adventure this Friday!

The reading nook courtesy of Uncle Joe has been put to great use so far this year. This is their escape into "LALA LAND" as they call it where they can read on their own in peace and quiet away from the classroom. 

My oldest started her grade up in Math today. We had to order all new books already because 5th was too easy. She was already bored today but I assured her it is going to get more challenging:)

Today was an off day. We have one very under the weather and praying for a quick recovery. It is days like this that I realize again that I made the right choice doing this because I was able to be home with my sick one and take care of her while juggling studies with the other two. I also realized how awesome of a teacher's aid my oldest is. She can administer tests, teach Math and read stories with such affliction that they are begging for her to continue. We are so lucky!

Patriot Day & Taxonomy

After the typical book work we did a basic review of our vocab words in Botany in preparation for our test tomorrow, we did a hands on activity for Taxonomy called, TAXONOMY SHOES!
I had each of the girls go to their rooms and find 6 different shoes. We then had to classify them into Kingdoms, Phyla, Class and then Order. They had a blast doing this and also realized how much work it is. We then wrote several of these shoe names in Binomial Nomenclature.

We started Story of the World today and they absolutely LOVED it. It is amazingly written and I can see the wheels turning in their brain as I read. There are lots of fun discussion questions and activities for each lesson to help them really retain all of the information. I am so glad that we chose this. They learned about how history became history and that is not only through written books and journals but through archaeology.

In remembrance of those lost on September 11th, we did Patriot Day books and wrote a letter to a soldier in the Navy who is the son of a very special homeschooling family that has helped us a lot with our journey.

Downtime was spent reading our novels and doing our handwriting and Grammar books of course but tomorrow is test day! We will have our first Math, Grammar, and Vocab tests before heading off to our first field trip at the Library for Discovery Club! Discovery Club meets monthly and covers a different subject each month. This month is fire prevention and safety and how to develop a safety plan.

Lots of work to do Monday-Wednesday next week! We have two big field trips coming up Thursday and Friday of next week:)